Iowa Hawkeyes Football

Saturday's contest in Kinnick Stadium started almost exactly as last week's did.

The visiting team took the opening kickoff, ran through the Iowa defense effortlessly and scored a touchdown.

Also just like the previous week, they failed to find the end zone again in the game.

Thankfully, Hawkeyes were able to reverse the tide and pull out a 27-16 against Northern Iowa.

The difference this week was that the Iowa offense did find the end zone. Or, rather, starting fullback-turned-running back, Mark Weisman found the end zone. Three times.

Weisman, the transfer from Air Force, scored on three short runs to account for all three of Iowa's touchdowns. Weisman started the game at fullback, but was forced to move to halfback after injuries to Iowa's Damon Bullock and Greg Garmon. 

He responded to the change awfully well.

Weisman had 24 carries for 113 yards. The Iowa offense was fueled by Weisman, but quarterback James Vandenberg had his best game of the year as well.

Vandenberg threw for 228 yards on 18-of-28 passing. The opening drive from scrimmage for the Hawkeyes saw Vandenberg miss a wide-open Keenan Davis—who had nothing but green in front of him—the QB instead throwing a short pass for a nice first-down gain. But it still angered the Iowa fans.

Vandenberg did respond, however, and seemed to settle in nicely.

Kevonte Martin-Manley was Iowa's leading receiver with five receptions for a career-high 101 yards.  Keenan Davis also had five catches for 54 yards. Weisman and tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz had three catches each for 33 yards and 27 yards, respectively.

Vandenberg still has not thrown for a touchdown in 12 quarters of play this season, but he did look more comfortable on Saturday than in his previous two games. The Iowa receivers also stepped up their games with much surer hands against the Panthers than they displayed against Iowa State.

While UNI is an FCS school, they are a very good FCS school, so this win should not be overlooked by Iowa fans.

When the Panthers took the opening drive for a touchdown, things did not look too good in Kinnick Stadium. Freshman quarterback Sawyer Kollmorgen carved up the Iowa defense with ease. The Hawkeyes defense, however, made some adjustments and yielded just three field goals for the next 55 minutes of play.

Initial reports from KCCI sound like Bullock and Garmon are not injured badly and could return soon. Weisman, however, may have laid claim to being the feature back—at least for another week. Bullock did look good in his limited action, averaging 5.9 yards on 13 carries.

If Iowa can get the same production from the receivers and Vandenberg, they should be able to make it two and a row next week at home against Central Michigan. Central Michigan, while not a slouch, is possibly the worst team the Hawks will see this year.

Kirk's squad hopes to go 3-1 heading into Big Ten play. They got a big boost yesterday by beating an in-state rival and waking up the offense, and, just as importantly—going into two more home games—the fans.

This week, the FBS Iowa Hawkeyes will face the FCS Northern Iowa Panthers.

Under normal circumstances, that should mean an easy win for the Hawks, and a lot of playing time for the second and third string players.

However, this year hasn't been a "normal" year so far.

Iowa is off to a 1-1 start, which, in itself, is not surprising—that was my prediction two months ago—but the way it has taken place has been surprising.

The Hawks are averaging 12 points-per-game and are currently the No. 114 scoring offense in the country. They are also the 110th rushing offense (yards-per-carry or YPC), No. 115 in total offense and No. 119 in passing offense (passer efficiency).

And the Hawkeyes' schedule thus far, while not too shabby, also hasn't exactly featured two world beaters—Iowa State and Northern Illinois.

Nevertheless, it is pointless comparing the two teams man-for-man, because, despite Iowa's issues and the fact that Northern Iowa is consistently one of the best FCS teams in the country, if the Hawks can manage to score more than 24 points, they should take home a victory.

If the Hawks can't manage more than 24 points, then the issue lies more with the Hawkeyes than the Panthers.

As for UNI, the Panthers have won the Missouri Valley Football Conference Championship five of the last seven years. They have also had double-digit win seasons three of the last five years.

More recently, they almost beat defending Big Ten champion Wisconsin, though the Badgers, who are facing offensive issues of their own (per Fox Sports Wisconsin), were not the imposing foe that they seemed at the time of the game.

This year, UNI returns only 10 starters, but much of that returning experience is on the offensive line, where UNI returns four starters. As Iowa fans well know, the team that controls the line controls the point of attack and thus, controls the game.

In effect, the UNI line will arguably be the best O-line the Hawks have faced so far this year, and the best line it will face until at least mid-October.

The new quarterback, redshirt freshman Sawyer Kollmorgen, while solid, has not been spectacular, completing only 55.8 percent of his passes this year. On the other hand, he has taken care of the ball, having yet to throw an interception. He is not a threat to run, but having only taken one sack this year, he gets rid of the ball quickly.

Iowa will have to commit itself to stopping the run game in the form of talented running backs David Johnson and Carlos Anderson, though the Badgers had no trouble squashing both of them. Against UW, Johnson and Anderson averaged 2.13 YPC on 16 combined carries.

Also, the Panthers have a dangerous receiver in senior Terrell Sinkfield.

On defense, UNI lost five of their front seven to graduation.

The Panther linebackers are nowhere near as good as Iowa State's talented Jake Knott and A.J. Klein, which should help the Iowa rushing game get going.

Again, one could read into UNI holding Wisconsin to a 3.57 YPC, but the Badgers currently have more issues than Iowa.

In short, Iowa should be able to run the ball with some success against the Panthers.

The bigger question concerns the Hawkeye passing game, which has been horrific thus far this year.

UNI returns three in the backfield, though they couldn't keep UW quarterback Danny O'Brien from completing over 80 percent of his passes.

The key wildcard could be emotions, as UNI has had a number of recent near misses against FBS foes. Over the last four seasons, the Panthers have almost beaten Wisconsin, Iowa State and Iowa in 2009.

As the Des Moines Register's Mark Emmert pointed out, the Panthers are "tired of recent 'almosts' against FBS foes."

This could be their best chance to beat an FBS foe since 2007's win over Iowa State. It is also a chance to beat Iowa for the first time since 1898.

All of this isn't to diminish UNI's chances against Iowa this weekend.

However, man-for-man, the only area where the Panthers might hold an advantage is their offensive line vs. Iowa's defensive line.

In effect, if Iowa is to lose this game, it will be more a failure on Iowa's part than a great game played by UNI.

And given the way Iowa eked out six points against Iowa State, that is a distinct possibility.

Like most people, I love to be right. It may not happen too often, but when I am right about something, it feels good. 

It doesn't feel good to be right about James Vandenberg as an Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback, though.

Before the 2011 college football season started, I was the guy saying that Vandenberg would not be a very good college quarterback. I said how much Iowa fans would miss Ricky Stanzi, and I wish this were not the case.

After Saturday's crushing loss to Iowa State and the inability of the Iowa offense to score more than one touchdown in two games, more and more people are jumping off the Vandenberg bandwagon.

Of course, being a "good" college quarterback is subjective. 

Does Vandenberg have a great arm? Yes, sure.

Has he had some impressive games, such as last season against Pittsburgh? Absolutely.

But look deeper, and you will realize he hasn't been anywhere near as good as Stanzi was before him.

Before last season, many people were high on Vandenberg because of his gutsy performance against Ohio State in Ohio Stadium as a freshman. While that was a promising performance, many forgot the egg he laid the following week against a bad Minnesota team at Kinnick Stadium.

Last season, Vandenberg only managed to win one road game (at Purdue), which remains his only true road win as an Iowa quarterback.

His stats were not terrible last year—237-of-404, 58.7 completion percentage, 25 TDs, 7 INTs. 

In two games this year, he is 41-of-75, 54.7 completion percentage, 0 TDs, 2 INTs.

The numbers don't tell the whole story, however. 

Vandenberg's Big Ten record as a starter is 5-5; his overall record as a starter is 9-8. His record against Iowa State is 0-2, and his record in true road games is 1-5.

I coined a term for Iowa quarterbacks called the "Christensen Corner," named after former underachieving Iowa quarterback Jake Christensen. Kind of like when a T.V. show "jumps the shark," when a quarterback starts to show he may not be all he was touted as and loses support of most of the fanbase, he has turned the "Christensen Corner."

The mood in Kinnick Stadium Saturday felt like it was pretty close.

Northern Iowa is a very good football team, and the Panthers come to Kinnick Sept. 15. If Vandenberg and the Iowa offense continue to be flat—and especially if they are flat and lose to UNI—I think Vandenberg officially will have turned the "Christensen Corner."

Granted, he will have Central Michigan coming to Iowa City the following week, which may be a savior, but a loss next week may begin the calls for redshirt freshman Jake Rudock.

As long as Vandenberg is healthy, it is highly unlikely Kirk Ferentz would pull him from the starting spot no matter how bad he plays.

Remember some of those games where Stanzi played awfully, only to lead a comeback in the fourth quarter? Some of that can be attributed to the confidence Ferentz showed in him; Vandenberg is given the same treatment by Captain Kirk.

Iowa has work to do, and that includes James Vandenberg. He only has 10 starts left as an Iowa quarterback, and time is ticking away for him to establish himself as a memorable Iowa quarterback. 

Otherwise, I might be right, and he may go the way of Matt Sherman, Nathan Chandler and Christensen.

I hate being right.

For the second year in a row, the Iowa State Cyclones defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes for the coveted Cy-Hawk Trophy.

The loss, in front of a packed Kinnick Stadium was, if possible, was more frustrating for the Hawkeyes than last year's overtime loss in Ames.

The final score, 9-6, is indicative of the poor offensive showing by both teams.

Iowa State racked up 342 total yards, compared to the Hawks 304. Iowa State broke the 100-yard rushing mark with 101 yards, while Iowa only managed 68 yards on the ground. 

Perhaps the most telling stat of the day was turnovers: Iowa State had four, compared to Iowa's two.

The problem was that Iowa was unable to do anything with the four forced turnovers.

Iowa State quarterback Steele Jantz did not carve up the Hawkeyes' defense like he did last year.  Jantz was 24-for-36 for 241 yards, a touchdown and two picks.

James Vandenberg, for the Hawkeyes was even worse, going 20-for-42 for 236 yards and two interceptions.

Vandenberg wasn't helped much by his receivers. On a pivotal forth quarter drive, there were crucial drops by Iowa receivers, including a drop by Don Shumpert on what would have been a big pick up on fourth down. 

But it was Vandenberg who tried to force a pass to the middle of the field as the Hawkeyes were driving for a potential game-winning TD in the final minutes Saturday that was picked off by Iowa State's Jake Knott.

The interception sealed the victory as Iowa State got the ball back with only 1:11 left, with Iowa out of timeouts.

This turn of events came after James Morris picked off Jantz deep in Iowa territory with 3:23 left on the clock and returned the interception close to midfield.

As bad as the Hawkeyes offense played all day, the defense kept them in it until the very end. Two interceptions and two forced fumbles gave the offense chances to take the lead.

But alas, the offense couldn't convert.

This loss leaves a lot of questions lingering in Iowa City. 

They now have scored only one touchdown in two games against Northern Illinois and Iowa State.  James Vandenberg has yet to throw a touchdown pass in 2012.  Kirk Ferentz's career record against Iowa State is now 6-8. 

This was the first loss of the Ferentz era in which the defense held the opponent under 10 points.  Previously, Ferentz-coached teams were 33-0 in such games.

Long story short, this was a very painful loss for the Hawkeyes.

There is some good news, however.

Despite his late drop, Don Shumpert looked like a legitimate third or fourth target with four catches for 29 yards.  C.J. Fiedorowicz continues to show that he needs to be utilized more in the passing game as he had four catches for 61 yards.  The defense has been very good so far, only allowing 26 points in two games.  Lastly, Kicker Mike Meyer has been impressive.

Yet, the Hawkeyes are a lucky 1-1 against two teams that they were favored against.

A tough UNI team comes to Iowa City next week.  A win could right the ship, while a loss could doom the season only three games in.

I guess the optimist would say that the last time the Hawkeyes lost to Iowa State in Iowa City, they rattled off 10 straight wins and an Orange Bowl appearance.  Let's hope lightning strikes twice.